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BUCKHANON -- Tips from citizens led to an escaped inmate being captured in Upshur County Thursday.
After six days on the run, escaped inmate Denver Bennett was captured late Thursday afternoon in the upper Childers Run area of Upshur County.
Bennett, 30, an inmate at the Pruntytown Correctional Center, escaped while on work release in Elkins on Sept. 15. He was helping with preparations for the Mountain State Forest Festival when he fled from its Lough Street office.
Bennett had been spotted in the Childers Run area on Tuesday. Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon said a tip from a citizen led to Bennett being taken into custody.
"Upshur County Sheriff Mike Coffman got a tip on him again on Thursday and we went and surrounded the area," Elbon told The Inter-Mountain Friday. "From there we started doing searches of the perimeter, buildings, sheds and things like that. We eventually searched a camper and found him hiding in the back covered up."
Elbon said the police learned that Bennett had also been staying in a shed that was in close proximity to the camper where he was found.
"He was moving back and forth between the camper and the shed," Elbon said. "It looked like he had been sleeping in the shed, because there was a rubber mat and some blankets in it."
Elbon added that Bennett had been staying in the woods for most of the time he was on the run, but believes he had been staying in the Childers Run area for several days.
"We were down in that area until midnight Tuesday night because we had a sighting of him that day," Elbon said. "He was seen on a doorbell camera that day and we just had to figure out what path he was going. We got a tip again on Thursday and it paid off."
Elbon said law enforcement also had a lead on Bennett late Wednesday night and authorities were close to tracking him down then.
"He was trying to make connections to get a ride out of that area," Elbon said. "We intercepted a girlfriend that night and just missed him after searching some houses and other places. We were out looking in that area until around midnight."
Bennett was transported Thursday to the Mt. Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County. He will be arraigned in Randolph County on escape charges.
According to officials, Beverly Beckner was also arrested on Thursday for allegedly helping Bennett while he was on the run.
"He will have the escape charge and we already have a warrant for that," Elbon said. "And Upshur County has charges on the female that was letting him stay in the camper. There may also be a couple of other arrests out of the whole deal."
Police units from the U.S. Marshal Service, Upshur County Sheriff's Office, Randolph County Sheriff's Office, West Virginia State Police and West Virginia State Parole were all on scene when Bennett was apprehended.
Bennett was indicted by the Randolph County grand jury in March 2022 on one count of burglary, a felony, and one count of petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
At the time he was also named in a separate and unrelated indictment, indicted on one count of receiving stolen goods, a felony, one count of fleeing in a vehicle with reckless indifference, a felony, and one count of fleeing from an officer by any means other than the use of a vehicle, a misdemeanor.